Predicted rainfall from the former Invest 91L off South Florida’s Atlantic coast never really materialized Saturday. So, what happened?

The heaviest showers stayed mainly off-shore while the low pressure area drifted to the north, then over the peninsula between Titusville and Daytona Beach, according to a meteorologist at Central Florida Hurricane Center.

The remnants of the system were dumping rain in North Florida and southern Georgia on Sunday, while Palm Beach and most of South Florida remained dry.

The Palm Beach airport did pick up 1.33 inches of rain from 91L on Friday. But just .02 of an inch fell on Saturday. There was no rain in Fort Lauderdale and about a quarter of an inch in Miami.

Rain was light almost everywhere in South Florida from Saturday afternoon through Sunday afternoon. Homestead Air Force Base reported 0.57 of an inch; a few spots in inland Collier County recorded up to 0.85 of an inch, and in Palm Beach County, Loxahatchee had 0.77 of an inch.

Rain chances increase Monday to 60 percent with showers moving in from the Bahamas, National Weather Service forecasters said, but the rest of the week looks relatively dry, with only a slight chance of rain (20 percent) through Thursday.

TROPICAL STORM UPDATE: Ernesto and Florence were both weakening on Sunday, and neither appeared to pose a threat to the U.S. The latest track from the National Hurricane Center shows Ernesto making a landfall in Belize and after that, northeastern Mexico.

Florence was weakening rapidly, the victim of dry air and wind shear. It was expected to dissipate over the Atlantic.

Computer forecast models hint that several other waves coming off the coast of Africa may develop over the next two weeks, as we edge closer to the peak of the hurricane season.

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The giant African land snail is as big as an adult’s hand. (Credit: Florida Department of Agriculture)

They are once again showing up in South Florida as an unwanted invasive species, and officials with the state Department of Agriculture are trying to eradicate them as quickly as possible. They carry diseases, for one thing. And for another, they eat houses.

To them, a stucco building looks like a big piece of angel food cake with a thick layer of strawberry frosting.

The snails, which measure up to 8 inches in length and 5 inches in diameter, have been found so far only in Miami-Dade County, according to Denise Feiber, a public information officer with the Department of Agriculture’s Division of Plant Industry in Gainesville.

They have not shown up yet in Broward or Palm Beach counties, but there’s no environmental or climatic reason why they couldn’t spread to other South Florida locations, Feiber said. They could hitch a ride with a landscaping company, “or they could get attached to a vehicle,” she said.

“We have all of our inspectors looking for them during the course of their regular routines. We’ve tried to educate the public about what they look like. But so far — it’ll be a year in September since they were discovered — we have not seen them anywhere outside of Miami-Dade County.”

Palm Beach County “would be a favorable climate for them,” she added. “There might be one transported by somebody from another county, but hopefully we would find out about it soon enough before they started reproducing.”

They have been on the state’s exotic pest control radar for decades, apparently. The story goes back to 1966, when a boy from Miami returned from a vacation in Hawaii and thought it would be neat to smuggle in three giant African snails.

His grandmother later released them into her garden and the snails began setting up housekeeping. By 1973, 18,000 of them had been found, and the state launched an eradication program that took 10 years and cost $1 million.

State officials assumed they were under control until the new batch began showing up last September.

The snails eat 500 different varieties of plants, and if fruits and vegetables aren’t available they’ll munch on tree bark, stucco and paint. They’re found throughout the Caribbean islands.

The Department of Agriculture warns that additional snails could “hitchhike” into Florida on imported cargo and, “there have been recent reports of these snails being illegally imported by individuals for classroom exhibits, as pets, or for food.”

Here’s a video on the giant snail problem in Miami. If one shows up in your garden, call The Plant Industry helpline at (888) 397-1517.

About the Author

John Nelander is a freelance writer, book editor and publisher in West Palm Beach. Weather Matters features news and observations about the weather with a focus on what's happening in South Florida. The blog also looks at the latest studies on climate change as well as what's happening in the weather forecasting biz. His website is www.pbeditorialservices.com.